Toilet flushing and venting mechanism

ABSTRACT

APPARATUS USING A SINGLE SELECTIVELY OPERATED VALVE FOR FLUSHING A TOILET BOWL OR EXHAUSTING ODORS THEREFROM AND INCLUDING A RESERVOIR HAVING A SUPPLY OF LIQUID UNDER PRESSURE FOR FLUSHING OR VENTING THE BOWL.

Mardi 1971 i v J. M. vALDEsPlNo 3,568,216

TOILET FLUSHING AND VENTING MCH-ANISM Filed April 4., 1969 .f2 .Q fa

. /f INVEN'mn f7 fl, i mf/4. l/Awfs//va 4 Il l 4 V l LA7 BY V` W /y )1 lATTORNEY;

United States Patent O1 3,568,216 Patented Mar. 9, l1971 lice ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus using a single selectively operated valvefor flushing a toilet bowl or exhausting odors therefrom and including areservoir having a supply of liquid under pressure for flushing orventing the bowl.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (l) Field of the invention This inventionrelates generally to sanitation within buildings and relatesparticularly to toilet bowls and the flushing and venting thereof todispose of waste matter and associated odors.

(2) Description of the prior art Heretofore many devices for flushingtoilets have been provided; however, most of these prior devices havedepended upon the opening of a valve which would permit a predeterminedquantity of Water to flow by gravity lnto the bowl to ush the contentsof the bowl into a drain sewer. Some efforts have been made to ventodors; however, these prior devices have been unsatisfactory since theywere expensive and complicated to manufacture and maintain and weresubject to design weaknesses which permitted leakage and which have notfound general acceptance in the trade.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a toilet flushing andventing mechanism having an operating valve with a handle which can beselectively operated so that in one position water under pressure willbe forced into the tank to perform the flushing operation, and inanother position water will be forced through a venturi to create anegative pressure within the area of the bowl and exhaust the odors to asewer. At least one of the liquid lines is provided with a vacuum breakto introduce air under atmospheric pressure into the water pressure linein the event of a break in the same which could create a partial vacuumor negative pressure within the toilet and suck material from the sewerline if the negative pressure were not broken. Also an auxiliaryreservoir is provided which will be completely or partially filledduring the power fl-ush cycle and which will supply liquid to the bowlafter the power flush has been completed and the Siphon effect of thetoilet has drained most ofthe liquid therefrom.

It is an object of the invention to provide a toilet flushing andventing mechanism including a pressurized tank or reservoir whichautomatically interrupts the inllow of water into the tank and a singlemanually operated valve which is selectively operated to introduceliquid under pressure into the toilet bowl for flushing purposes or fordirecting the liquid under pressure through a venturi for venting odorsfrom the bowl.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for llushing andventing a toilet by using liquid under pressure and providing anauxiliary tank for supplying a predetermined amount of liquid to thebowl after the power ush and siphon have taken place.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a section of a toilet bowlillustrating one application of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the connection between thetoilet bowl and the power ush line.

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to thedrawing a sealed tank or reservoir 10 is provided having an inlet line11 and a discharge line 12. The tank 10 can be located in any desiredposition, such as being inset Within a Wall, or if desired can be placedabove and to the rear of a toilet bowl 13. The tank 10 preferably issealed so that the contents can be maintained under pressure for apurpose which will be described later.

The discharge line 12 terminates in a T-coupling 15y with a three-wayvalve 16 mounted therein and having an operating handle 17. To one sideof the T-coupling 15 a Hush line 18 is connected and such Hush lineprojects downwardly into the rear portion of a channel 19 extendingsubstantially entirely around the upper portion of the bowl 13. Aroundthe lower portion of the channel 19 a plurality of spaced openings 20are provided -so that water which enters the channel from flush line 18Will be discharged through such openingsinto the lower portion of thebowl 13. At the lower portion of the bowl 13 a discharge passage 21 isprovided which extends upwardly and rearwardly from an entrance opening22 to a drain passage 23 connected to a conventional sewer line (notshown). Normally a predetermined amount of water 24 is maintained withinthe 'bowl 13 and at a level substantially above the entrance opening 22so that oiensive sewer odors and gases cannot be discharged from thesewer through the bowl.

At the top of the bowl 13 a hollow enlargement 26 is provided throughwhich the ush line 18 extends. The enlargement 26 has a plurality ofopenings 27 so that air under atmospheric pressure can enter the areabetween the inner periphery of the enlargement and the flush line 18. Inthe event of a negative pressure being created in the inlet line 11ambient air will pass through the openings 27 and into the flush line 18to interrupt or break the negative pressure. If desired, the flush line18 may have an internal ring 28 with a sharp-edged orice 2.9 functioningas a venturi to accelerate the passage of 'water through the lowerportion of the flush line. Such passage will create a partial vacuum inthe rear portion of the channel 19 and will draw air under atmosphericpressure through the openings 27 and entrain such air in the water beingdischarged through the openings 20 of the channel.

An auxiliary tank 30L is disposed about the Iflush line 18 and is incommunication with the interior thereof through upper and lower openings31 and 32, respectively. When water is passing through the ush line 18under pressure, some of such water will be diverted through the openings31 and 32 into the auxiliary tank 30. This is particularly true whenvthe internal ring 28 is located below the auxiliary tank since suchinternal ring will create a slight back pressure which will force thewater into the auxiliary tank. After the ow of Water under pressure hasbeen halted by operation of the valve 16, the water within the auxiliarytank 30 will drain through the lower openings 32 and be discharged intothe toilet bowl to furnish the supply of water 24 which normally iscontained within the bowl.

At they other side of the T-coupling 15, an upper vent line.35 isconnected tothe valveV 16 and extendsdownwardly to a T-connection 36. Alower vent line 37 extends downwardly from the T-connection 36 through atrap 38 and terminates at a connection 39 in communication with thedrain passage 23. An air line 40 extends laterally from the T-connection36 and provides communication with the channel 19. A venturi 41 islocated within the upper portionvof the T-connection 36 adjacent to thedischarge end of the upper vent line 35 and such venturiY has a reduceddischarge orice at its lower end. The water passing through thedischarge oritice of the venturi is accelerated a substantial amount andis projected past the line 40 into the lower vent line 37.

The passage of the water past the line 40 creates a negative pressure orpartial vacuum within such line and the channel 19 and draws air fromthe bowl 4through the openings 20. Odors within the bowl thus areremoved and are discharged into drain passage 23 and sewer.

The water in the inlet line 11 normally is under a pressure ofapproximately 40 to 60 p.s.i. when it is introduced into the tank orreservoir' 10. When the valve 16 is open, water will be dischargedthrough the discharge line 12 at substantially the same pressure that itenters the tank through the inlet line 11.1 When the valve is closed,'water continues to fill the tank so that air trapped within the tank iscompressed by the rising water level until the pressure of the airsubstantially equals the pressure of the water within the inlet line andthereby interair forces water through the discharge line 12 andsimultaneously permits additional water under pressure to enter the tank10 through the inlet line 11. ln this manner the water used in the flushand the vent operation is under pressure at all times; however, thewater which lls the auxiliary tank drains by gravity into the bowl afterthe valve has been closed.

In the operation of the device a predetermined amount of water isretained within a tank or reservoir 10 under pressure. When the toiletbowl is in use the handle 17 of the valve 16 may be turned in onedirection to permit water to ilow through the vent lines and .37 intothe drain passage 23. When water underV pressure flows through such ventlines a partial vacuum or negative pressure is created which draws airfrom the channel 19 and entrains such air into the water being evacuatedthrough the drain passage. The air being drawn kthrough the vent lineswill carry with it any olensive odors and will discharge such odors intothe sewer. When the handle 17 is operated in the other direction, waterunder pressure passes through the ush line 18 and the channel 19, and isdischarged through the openings 20 into the bowl. When the water levelwithin the bowl rises, such water likewise will rise in the drainpassage 23 to create a Siphon effect to discharge substantially all ofthe tluid and semisolid matter from the toilet bowl into the drainpassage 23 and subsequently to a sewer. -While water is passing throughthe flush line 18, some of such water will be diverted through the upperand lower openings 311 and 32 of the auxiliary tank 30 to substantiallyll the same. When the valve again is closed and the water under pressureis cut off, the water within the auxiliary tank 30 will drain throughthe lower openings 32 into the channel 19 and then into the bowl 13.

I claim:

1. A toilet flushing and venting mechanism for use with a toilet bowlhaving an inlet channel and a drain passage to a sewer, said mechanismcomprising `a reservoir containing water under pressure, valve meansconnected to said reservoir, said toilet bowl having la hollowenlargement with at least one opening providing communication 'betweenthe interior and exterior thereof, a ilush line connected at one end toone side of said valve means, the opposite end of said flush lineextending through said enlargement and terminating'within said inletchannel and adapted to introduce water under pres sure thereinto, anauxiliary tank disposed about said ush line intermediate the endsthereof, said flush line having upper and lower openings providingcommunication with said auxiliary tank, a restriction in said flush linebelow said auxiliary tank for causing water to enter said auxiliary tankwhen water under pressure is flowing through said flush line, a ventline connected at one end to the other side of said valve means andconnectedat the opposite end to the drain passage of said bowl, aventuri located within said vent line, an air line connecting thechannel of said bowl with said vent line closely 'adjacent to thedownstream side of said venturi, and handle means for selectivelyoperating said valve means so that movement of the handle means in onedirection will cause water under pressure to move through said flushline into said bowl to tlush the contents of the bowl into the drainpassage, and movement of the handle means in the other direction willcause water under pressure to pass through said venturi to draw foul airfrom said bowl and discharge the same into said drain passage.

2. The structure of claim 1 including an inlet line for introducingwater under pressure into said reservoir so that air trapped in saidreservoir will-be compressed by water entering the reservoir when thevalve means is closed and the compressed air Will interrupt the inow ofWater.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS '732,926 7/1903 De =La Hunt4--215 1,083,974 1/1914 Wulf 4-215 1,242,251 10/ 1917 Shadall 4--2151,389,896 9/1921 Pfau 4-215 1,447,028 2/ 1923 McLanahan 4-215 2,021,40211/1935 Blodgett 4-215 2,309,925 2/ 1943 Schotthoefer 4-215 2,406,507 8/1946 Owens 4--215 2,458,096 1/ 1949 Park 4-40 3,188,658 6/1965 Dixon4-215 LAVERNE D. GlEIGER, Primary Examiner H. K. ARTIS, AssistantExaminer U.S. Cl. X.R.

